MDT Chapter 235 (Patreon)

Chapter 235: "You Are a Born Explorer"

Solar Panel.

He'd purchased it from the Mechanical Train Accessory Shop in Neon City. The price had been steep.

A blue-grade accessory.

Back then, he'd spent 110,000 units of iron ore upgrading it to Level 10, which had granted him two Advanced Effects:

1: Can generate energy at night, albeit at a slower rate.
2: Surplus energy will be converted into Energy Stones.

This accessory covered a significant portion of his train's daily consumption—roughly 8,000 units of iron ore per day.

He immediately consumed 4.5 million units of iron ore and pushed it straight to Level 100.

Being blue-grade, the resource consumption ran slightly higher.

The Advanced Effects at Levels 20, 50, and 100 all read: "None."

But that didn't matter.

What mattered was the daily output—200,000 units of iron ore. Enough to cover the train's operational costs entirely, with 180,000 units left over as pure profit each day.

Twenty-five days to recoup the cost. After that? Pure profit.

Not bad.

Combined with the Cosmic Receiver, the train now generated 660,000 units of passive iron ore income daily, even if it sat idle.

It didn't sound like much, but passive income meant security. Before the apocalypse, why had so many people been obsessed with building passive income streams? Because with a job, payment stopped the moment work stopped. Passive income kept flowing regardless.

Chen Mang glanced at the train's resource panel.

3.2 million units of iron ore remaining.

Time to stop spending.

Those three Level 4 iron mines in the train tunnel had pushed the Stellar's opportunities to their peak. Now he needed to keep mining, then head to the Mechanical City to see if an antidote existed.

Where seven-step snakes dwell, an antidote lies within five paces.

He refused to believe he was the only one facing the choice between Drill and Train Expansion. Other trains must have encountered this dilemma, and since it only existed in the Blue Zone, the solution should exist there too.

Soon—

Half a day passed.

The iron mine had been completely excavated. Erdan's encounter mission: complete. Time to part ways. The reward materialized.

[S-Rank Difficulty Reward: Special Item — Drill Sizing Order]

"..."

Chen Mang stared expressionlessly at the spinning-top-shaped item in his hand. Its sole function: allow the Drill accessory to change size at will.

The maximum size could not exceed the train's cross-section.
Minimum size could not be less than one centimeter.

A budget version of "size as you wish."

[TN: The Chinese name "Drill Sizing Order" contains the characters Ruyi, meaning "as you wish." This is the same term used in Sun Wukong's legendary size-changing staff, the Ruyi Jingu Bang.]

He'd been overthinking it. He'd assumed the antidote would require a trip to the ruins of a mechanical city in the ‘Red Zone’. He'd never expected to find it in the ‘White Zone’.

It really was within seven paces.

With this item, Drill and Train Expansion could coexist perfectly.

"Um..." Erdan hesitated. "Boss Mang, is this useful to you? The reward seems kind of... garbage."

He didn't need it himself. Train expansion wasn't in his plans—he was all about flexibility and speed. A few autocannons were sufficient. Fighting wasn't his mission anyway.

He was a courier.

Speed was everything.

"Very useful."

Chen Mang exhaled softly before pocketing the spinning top and clapping Erdan's shoulder. "Today, you and I explored the Crisis Valley encounter map together. Tomorrow, you'll soar through the sea of stars with me."

"Believe in your talent and luck."

"You are a born explorer."

Erdan said nothing. He simply nodded, expression resolute, before striding toward his Traveling Frog Train control car. Moments later, the locomotive lifted into the air and shot toward the horizon.

After watching Erdan leave, Chen Mang returned to the control car and placed the item on the console. It dissolved into countless motes of light that merged with the system. A line of text appeared on the screen:

[The Stellar has loaded 'Drill Sizing Order.' White-grade accessory Drill can now change size at will.]

Perfect.

Now he could examine Train Expansion properly. The size after expansion was entirely up to him. The upper limit: one carriage 100 meters wide, 300 meters long, 100 meters high.

"..."

Chen Mang pictured it. One hundred meters high—equivalent to a thirty-story residential building. Every carriage at that scale. That wouldn't be a train anymore.

It'd be a Land Battleship.

Might fit in space, but on land? Far too conspicuous.

A train that large would be slower, consume vastly more energy, and many locations would become inaccessible—like the Train Tunnel. Most encounter maps accommodated train passage, sure. The Train Tunnel stood nearly a hundred meters high.

But nearly wasn't exactly. Completely inadequate for a train this size.

After maxing out Train Expansion, the required iron ore figure appeared:

140 million.

"What an unfamiliar unit..."

Chen Mang stared at it. The first time he'd seen "hundred million" as a unit. Why did it feel so foreign? When had iron ore started being measured in hundreds of millions?

One person, one pickaxe, one Level 1 iron mine: roughly 10 units of iron ore per day.

Work for 14 million consecutive days, and you'd earn 140 million units.

You'd have to start digging in the Jurassic period.

He adjusted the parameters: one carriage 10 meters wide, 30 meters long, 10 meters high. The price dropped to 14 million units of iron ore.

"Hmm..."

Chen Mang nodded. Much more reasonable.

Ten meters wide was sufficient for building large accessories, and the train would possess a violent beauty when running. He was still short on iron ore. He'd earn more, then begin Train Expansion.

As for where to get the missing iron ore...

Half an hour later.

"Confirmed."

Erdan's voice crackled through the control car. "Boss Mang, it's confirmed. This encounter map I took is long-acting. Any train passing by can accept it without restrictions, but each train can only accept it once."

Most encounter maps were single-use per train, bound to both the train and its captain.

For instance, Erdan had entered the Perpetual Prison map in Zombie Basin while piloting the Azure Dragon. Even after switching to the Traveling Frog Train, he couldn't re-enter.

"Very good."

Chen Mang nodded with satisfaction. He could create Level 1 iron mines indefinitely—one every half hour. This long-acting encounter map could become his infinite refresh point.

He could let anyone he chose complete this S-rank mission.

The only question now: should he complete this mission repeatedly himself, accumulate Drill Sizing Order items, and sell those directly? Or sell mining rights to the Level 1 iron mines and let other trains dig?

The two options seemed identical.

But the benefits differed significantly.

Not everyone needed a Drill Sizing Order, but everyone craved the unknown reward from an S-rank difficulty mission.

The former would be easier to trade. The latter would yield greater profit.

The next moment—

A pinned message appeared on the Crisis Valley Train Radio:

[Level 10 Mechanical Train, The Stellar: Selling Level 1 iron mine mining rights. Complete iron mines, clear title. Only 3 mines are available. First-come, first-served. Highest bidder wins!]

Soon, the Train Radio erupted.

"Level 1 iron mine? You can actually find those in Crisis Valley? I've been here forever and haven't seen a single one."

"Should be possible. I heard some old-timers in this region completed that encounter mission, but those trains moved to higher-level regions long ago."

"Are the three Level 1 iron mines adjacent?"

"He seems to be a Level 10 train..."

Then:

"Send me the coordinates. If I go there and actually see a Level 1 iron mine, I'll give you 2 million units of iron ore."

"Alright."

Chen Mang agreed readily, but his eyes narrowed. This trading method would bring greater profit, true, but it also invites exploitation from those with malicious intent.

Naturally, he wasn't afraid.

With Level 12 armor, what was there to fear?

Even if someone wielded a Level 13 or 14 firepower accessory—didn't he have one too? And if he activated Absolute Defense?

He wasn't afraid.

But this wasn't conducive to trade. To trade effectively, he needed sufficient leverage—he needed everyone to understand that, despite being a Level 10 train, he was qualified to sit at the table and claim his share.

Kill one villain, and two more would appear. Then three. Endless.

He needed to establish dominance.

So instead of sending the coordinates privately, he posted them directly in the pinned message on the Train Radio:

[Level 10 Mechanical Train, The Stellar: These are my coordinates. Everyone is welcome to come witness the truth.]

"I'm busy mining, can't go. Otherwise, I'd love to see how this Stellar, at only Level 10, has remote trading and Train Radio pinning functions. How come I don't?"

"I'm just wandering around, so I'll go."

"I'll go too. If there really is a Level 1 iron mine, then..."

"Ahem, let's go see first."

"Let's go. I've been eyeing that S-rank encounter mission forever, but I just couldn't find a Level 1 mine."

The sky neared dusk.

Chen Mang sat in the control car, running through countless contingency plans. No one could guarantee perfect reactions to emergencies unless they'd rehearsed contingencies mentally multiple times.

All residents had already returned to their carriages.

"Xiao Ai."

"Here."

"Create a Level 1 Ground-Burst Missile and launch it."

"Yes!"

The next moment—

A Ground-Burst Missile rose slowly from Carriage #14. Flames engulfed the entire carriage as the missile, wreathed in smoke, left the train and climbed into the sky. Then it suddenly turned mid-air.

Even did a little dance.

Only then did it fall into the distance.

"..."

Chen Mang watched, eyes narrowing. Missiles could also be controlled by the Magnetic Harvester, apparently.

Just that...

He glanced at the screen. Energy consumption ran high, but it didn't matter. This method was for deterrence.

As long as he could deter every train arriving today, he could secure absolute trading rights.

Just then—

"They're here."

Within the Search Radar's range, three or four trains appeared almost simultaneously from various directions, all heading toward the Stellar's position. His Search Radar's detection range: a full 100,000 meters.

Know your enemy, know yourself.

The control console screen rapidly displayed information on these trains:

[Level 11 Mechanical Train: Highest defensive accessory — Level 8 Chaebol Energy Shield. Highest offensive accessory — one Level 12 Doomsday Autocannon. No other special accessories. Comprehensive threat assessment: Zero.]

[Level 10 Mechanical Train: Highest defensive accessory — Level 7 Chaebol Energy Shield. Highest offensive accessory — one Level 12 Doomsday Autocannon. Special accessory — red-grade Spacetime Jump, can be activated once daily. After activation, a portal appears before the train, teleporting it to any corner of the region. Comprehensive threat assessment: Zero.]

[Level 12 Mechanical Train: Highest defensive accessory — Level 10 Star Ring Energy Shield. Highest offensive accessory — Level 11 Comet Main Cannon. No other special accessories. Comprehensive threat assessment: Zero.]

[Level 12 Flesh Train: Highest defensive accessory — Level 8...]

"..."

Chen Mang studied the string of information with a faintly strange expression. He'd overestimated the other trains. His initial expectation: if these trains had Level 13 or 14 offensive accessories, he could still handle them with Absolute Defense.

But now it seemed...

Not a single train possessed that level of offensive firepower.

These trains couldn't be upgraded indefinitely.

Upgrading a Doomsday Autocannon to Level 14 required vast quantities of Mofei Stones. Mofei Stones didn't just fall from the sky.

Among the three red-grade accessories craftable after upgrading to Level 10 train:

The Comet Main Cannon could be upgraded to Level 14.

Red-grade accessories could be upgraded to Level 20 maximum without Mofei Stones, but this was a red-grade large-scale firepower weapon. The price was unimaginable. In a sense, it ranked even higher than the Ground-Burst Missile—this thing fired continuously.

Just crafting it required 50,000 units of iron ore.

In that case...

It seemed he didn't need so many contingency plans. He just needed to wait here quietly. When someone inconspicuously approached, he'd kill them instantly to establish his trading leverage.

Become an Enforcer on my Patreon to unlock early access chapters for all my translated novels. Read ahead now!

Please leave a 5-star rating on Novel Updates!

[Chapters List]

[Next Chapter]